BY CHRISTOPHER LEON, GLOBAL SERIES EDITOR
Coming from a purely performance and composition background, Oliver Patrice Weder has carved himself a unique path into writing music for film and TV through his time as a lead composer for Spitfire Audio – an industry leader in British sample libraries and virtual instruments.
Oliver has developed and crafted his own compositional style through the exploration of new sounds and inspiring samples, paving the way for his fresh EP just released under the new SA Recordings record label.
Studio Session: Amsterdam is a collection of Oliver’s three solo piano pieces recorded in his home in Amsterdam.
In this interview as part our Global series, we take a minute from Oliver’s hyper-creative day to ask him about his new album and experiences at Spitfire Audio.
Hi Oliver, thanks for chatting with us. How did you become involved in Spitfire Audio?
Hi CutCommon, it is my pleasure. Thank you for chatting with me.
It was by complete chance: I was studying film music at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, and we went to London to record our score at Air Lyndhurst – our master thesis, so to speak – and it was during that trip where we visited the Spitfire offices.
Admittedly, I hadn’t heard of the name Spitfire Audio before, as I was new to film scoring and composing with samples. I had always been playing, touring, and writing in bands or doing session work as a pianist. However, it was really [Spitfire co-founder] Christian Henson that inspired me and made me curious about the job ‘film composer’, sampling, and the company itself.
Half a year later, I had moved to London to pursue a career as a musician, where a friend of mine gave me a ticket to attend the Tune Up production music awards, where I bumped again into Christian. I took the opportunity and asked him whether he needed help in form of a composer’s assistant. Without hesitation, he invited me for a meeting with [his Spitfire co-founder] Paul Thomson the next day, and so I started as their assistant on a freelance basis.
During downtime and less busy times, I began writing demos for Spitfire and slowly grew into a more permanent role as their music production manager and lead composer. Everything was new for everyone with Spitfire being such a young company, so there was an opportunity to carve out a very unique role and arrive at this wonderful arrangement I have with them as an artist, as well as making myself at home as a composer.
A new sample pack will soon be released, based on your new release with SA Recordings. What is it like to release an album, knowing the album’s inspired sounds will be used by countless musicians throughout the world?
It’s very exciting; I can’t wait to see what other musicians come up with, using these sounds. It also pushes me to really explore my own instruments, sounds, and effects.
Making a sound library is like a creative gateway for exploration and discovery, arriving at places that I wouldn’t otherwise. I come up with new instruments, for example, which are only playable as a sample pack. The sample pack is most likely going to be an extension of the album, meaning it will include sounds that might have not made it onto the album, or sounds that have been altered and explored further – that’s an inspiring thought for me!
The overall concept of releasing an album with a sample pack is unusual but interesting from two perspectives: if you listen to the album and enjoy certain sounds, you will be able to use those sounds and be creative with it yourself. And if you have your eyes on the pack, the album is the perfect playlist to check out what’s possible with it.
I am thrilled to be part of this new adventure and business model, and I’m actually looking forward to using my own sample pack on next projects, too.
Your album was recorded with all live instruments. How do you think audiences treat music created with live instruments, in comparison to music created through sampled content?
Tough question. I’d like to believe that audiences don’t really mind how the music is made, as long as it makes them feel something when they listen to it. For us musicians, it is usually the opposite, and we really want to get behind the process of the end product.
But I actually think that the whole industry heads into the direction of the process being as important as the outcome – the more knobs are twiddled, the more interesting the music. There’s a lot of amazing music out there, it’s hard for the audience to decide what to listen to and what to consider being ‘good’. I feel a current trend within the music-making of: ‘the weirder the better’, whether it’s live sounds or sampled. People are hungry for new things!
However, if we speak about media composing and orchestral music, I strongly believe that live instruments will always make that emotional difference that you can’t achieve with samples. Samples are insanely good these days, but I always try to incorporate live elements wherever I can. Audiences will feel the difference, too.
What opportunities has this new album provided you?
So far, it has been a very personal, self-reflective, and enlightening experience. It has been a long-time dream of mine to create an album with my own music, reflecting a period of my life. I guess it has provided a whole new level of creativity and discoveries in terms of how to express myself, and also an immense learning process for my writing, recording, and producing. It has opened up opportunities to think about performing live again and collaborating with other artists.
I’m hoping that through the release of this album, I can establish myself as a recording artist and that it will bring new opportunities as a composer for film and TV, too.
Where do you feel the SA Recordings label will take all of its composers?
I’m curious to see for myself where SA Recordings will take us – I can’t really predict what will happen, but with the manager Harriet Pittard in charge, I believe we will be heading into adventurous and exciting times!
I just have a feeling that SA Recordings will establish itself pretty quickly within the industry, as its role is pretty unique, connecting the artistic with the sampling/composer world.
You’ve bridged the experiences of working as Spitfire’s lead composer, through to crafting the first release on its record label. Tell us about what this variety means to you.
Since I have started as a composer’s assistant for Christian and Paul four-five years ago, it has been one big, wonderful adventure. I consider myself very lucky: I get up in the morning and start writing music – usually wishing that the day had more hours so I can write and work more.
My role at Spitfire is equally as creative as writing an album, so I get to be creative every day; which, of course, brings also its difficult sides with it. At times, I am very exhausted and it’s tough to make decisions, or come up with new original ideas. But to come back to your question, this variety you are addressing means a lot to me. I love being an ambassador and writer for Spitfire, but I’d also like to be respected as an artist and composer in my own right. My focus has been very much on Spitfire with some work experiences as a film composer, but the release on the label gives me the chance to actually show my artistic side through the album and highlight my versatility.
How has being involved with Spitfire Audio made an impact on, or changed, your composition style and workflow?
It changed everything. Berklee [and] Spitfire Audio (specifically Christian and Paul) have opened my mind and showed me other ways of making music. Before I went to study film music at Berklee, I had never used the computer to make music, or taken on the role as a producer within a studio. I was a song writer, band member, and performer, mainly moving within the typical band set up and style. I just loved playing. This was only five years ago! Now, I love writing orchestral music, creating electronic sounds, recording live instruments and, above all, producing and experimenting in the studio.
The time with Spitfire Audio has really given me confidence in my development as a musician. And yes, my style has definitely changed. I know a lot more about orchestral music and production, so I can use this knowledge in my writing.
SA Recordings has mentioned it will provide new opportunities for new sample libraries, collaborative projects, and live events in conjunction with Spitfire Audio. Can you elaborate on these opportunities?
I can only speculate here, but I feel that SA Recordings is really building up a family and is trying to establish itself within the bigger picture of the music industry. Coming out of Spitfire Audio, the label has advantages in terms of finance, space, and connections; and I feel that – through events, new business models, and collaborations – it will really make use of those advantages to get off the ground and become its own thing. And again, I am thrilled to be part of it and help wherever I can.
What advice would you give to emerging artists looking to use Spitfire Audio in their own music?
Get your hands on all the LABS products. They’re free, and are a great entry point for our main product range. Everything is recorded in highest quality, and some of the libraries can be a real inspiration and idea kick-starter.
But what I really recommend and enjoy about Spitfire isn’t only the tech side and high-end products we sell, but also the work we do within the community: educational tutorials, informative vlogs, insightful interviews, performances, and just all-round inspiring content – not only for film composers, but for artists and musicians in general.
Visit the Spitfire Audio website to learn more about its resources. Studio Session: Amsterdam is the first EP released on the new SA Recordings label – a “platform dedicated to sounds and recordings by contemporary composers”.
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Images supplied (courtesy SA Recordings/ Spitfire Audio).
